


Catch Me When I Fall

by hongbab



Category: VIXX
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 22:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9790808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hongbab/pseuds/hongbab
Summary: “Are you asking me out?” Hakyeon asks, feeling his facial muscles contort into a grimace. He quickly reorganizes his features to seem less rude. “On a date?”





	1. I

Mornings are always awful.

When you wake up with your oesophagus ablaze and a pounding headache cracking your skull—it all becomes a lot worse.

Hakyeon groans (tries, at least), opening his bleary eyes to stare up at the ceiling rotating above him. All of his limbs are aching, but he attempts to stand up anyway, only to roll off his bed and reach the floor with a loud thump. He’s pretty sure his brain splashed out onto the rug.

It’s okay, death will be a salvation at this point.

When he wakes up next, there’s a grinning face in his peripheral vision, laughing at him. Jaehwan is giggling like he’s seeing the funniest thing on earth, and when Hakyeon moans, he starts clapping like a circus seal.

“Good morning, sunshine,” he smirks, brushing Hakyeon’s sweaty fringe out of his eyes.

“Don’t touch me,” Hakyeon mouths, closing his eyes again. His mouth feels like it’s full of sand; tearing his tongue off his palate almost makes him cry, but Jaehwan just laughs anew. “What even is so funny? Give me water.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re a pile of shit,” Jaehwan chuckles, and reaches out a bottle of water to Hakyeon.

Hakyeon pushes himself up into sitting position with great suffering, his legs numb and his skin feeling like parchment that could rip open any second. He unscrews the cap on the bottle and drinks two mouthfuls, close to vomiting onto Jaehwan’s chest.

“When did we get home?” Hakyeon asks, taking in the sight of discarded clothes and an empty cigarette pack on the floor, his phone face down by the door.

“Five hours ago,” Jaehwan replies, still smiling.

“Do you really think I know what time it is?”

“It’s almost noon.”

“I wanted to sleep until three in the afternoon,” Hakyeon sighs.

“Ugh, save your breath, you smell disgusting,” Jaehwan says, pulling a face and Hakyeon grimaces back at him. “Besides, to quote you: ‘why’d I wanna go home this eeearly’. I had to wrestle you into bed, mate.”

“Bloody lies,“ Hakyeon says. "I can’t remember a thing.”

“Really? What’s your last memory?”

Hakyeon narrows his eyes at Jaehwan’s smug grin. “Tequila,” he replies finally.

“The first one or the last one?”

“How should I know?! You’re such a pain, ugh. I need to shower.”

“Oh, yes, you do,” Jaehwan sniggers. “And you should probably throw your underwear away.”

“Why?” Hakyeon asks, now horrified. He  _was_  pissed, but he hopes only in the figurative sense. He couldn’t have—

“Sticky stuff drying into the fabric is hard to get rid of, you know.”

Hakyeon’s eyes turn wide, and Jaehwan laughs so hard he lies back on the floor, his body twitching with annoying cackles.

“Jaehwan, what are you talking about?” Hakyeon kicks him in the shin for good measure and gathers his blanket into his lap immediately.

“You’re such a whore, God!” Jaehwan says, and sits up, wiping his tears out of the corners of his eyes.

“Jaehwan!”

“You really don’t remember?” Jaehwan asks, and Hakyeon cocks an eyebrow at him angrily. “Okay, wait.”

Jaehwan pulls out his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, tapping away on it until he finds a picture that he holds up for Hakyeon to see. Hakyeon squints, trying to focus on it, and when he sees what’s going on in the photo, he snatches the phone from Jaehwan’s hand.

There’s a couch and on top of it, a crumpled mess with two legs around the waist of another mess that’s hovering above it, face hidden in the neck of the first heap. Hakyeon recognizes himself as the person lying on the couch, his eyes shut tight and brow furrowed in some kind of sensual agony so inappropriate he feels his face flush.

“What the fuck…” he mumbles and swipes to the next picture.

Now he’s sitting in the lap of the guy that was kissing (?) his neck in the previous photo, seemingly trying to devour the stranger with his hands tangled into shiny black hair.

“What— who—”

“There’s a video, too.”

Hakyeon lets out a whimper but swipes to the left, revealing a 30-second video. He takes a deep breath before he presses play and quickly has to turn down the volume as the music starts blasting from the speakers of Jaehwan’s phone. The picture is shaky, but it’s obvious that Hakyeon is throwing his head back, still sitting in the guy’s lap, enjoying how the stranger touches him under his shirt and inside his jeans; it’s shamefully obscene, even with Jaehwan’s boisterous laughter in the background. The video ends with Hakyeon bending over to kiss the guy.

He’s horrified, but swipes again nevertheless, revealing a selfie of Jaehwan and that Wonshik guy he’s told Hakyeon about a few times, they too, kissing. When Jaehwan notices what Hakyeon is looking at, he takes his phone back, the corners of his mouth seemingly about to tear from how wide he’s grinning.

“You should see the look on your face now,” he snorts, snapping a picture of Hakyeon before the latter could oppose. He quickly hides his phone from Hakyeon, but Hakyeon doesn’t have the strength to fight him, anyway. “So, yeah, this happened. For like, two and a half hours. It was impossible to get you two off that couch.”

“Did I— did he—  _who is he?_ ”

“A friend of Hongbin’s, if I’m not mistaken,” Jaehwan says. “Sang—Sanghyuk?”

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon repeats and feels like crying when the name evokes nothing in his mind. “What happened?”

“One moment you were arguing about who spilled the beer on your shirt, and I actually told you to shut the fuck up because the kid’s huge, like, I was sure he’d kick your ass, but you were all like 'I can deal with it’ and 'you’re not my dad’… and I looked away for  _two_  seconds and when I looked back at you, you guys were eating off each other’s face.”

Hakyeon moans, covering his face with his hands, feeling nauseous to the pit of his stomach.

“Did we fuck on that couch or—?”

“I didn’t see everything, but while I was dragging you home—because I literally had to hold you up, otherwise you couldn’t walk—you said you’d got the best handjob ever and gave me an in-depth analysis of it which I probably won’t ever be able to delete from my memory. So, I assume that was all.”

“Why,” Hakyeon mumbles, swallowing back a lump in his throat, “why the hell didn’t you stop me?”

“I told you it wasn’t right!” Jaehwan replies indignantly. “You said you’d never regret it because he was sooo hot. And, I mean, yeah, he really was.”

Hakyeon lets out a muffled scream. If Jaehwan saw it, others saw it as well, and just what might they think of him? What might Sanghyuk or what’s-his-name think of him? Not that it matters that much because if Hongbin decides to invite him to a party next time he will definitely ask whether Sanghyuk will be there and if yes, there’s no way in hell Hakyeon will show up, but still… This is not who he is. He’s been mocking Jaehwan for that one time he fucked a girl in the toilet of some club several years ago since it happened, and now he did even worse because it happened in front of literally everyone.

“Hey,” Jaehwan laughs softly, taking Hakyeon’s hands off his face, looking a lot less gloating and a lot more understanding now. “You don’t have to be ashamed. We all do crazy stuff.”

“I looked like a fucking porn actor!” Hakyeon whines, kicking out under the blanket in frustration.

“Honey, you watch very low quality porn if the actors look like that in them,” Jaehwan snorts, and Hakyeon lifts an arm to punch him, but Jaehwan grabs his wrist, giggling. “No, but really. It’s totally okay. And God knows Sanghyuk might have liked it enough to contact you.”

“I want him to forget it, I want everyone to forget it. Delete those pictures.”

“No way.”

“Asshole.”

Hakyeon climbs to his feet, attempting to leave for the bathroom, but then Jaehwan grabs his ankle. “What will you do if he wants more from you?” he asks.

“Reject him, obviously,” Hakyeon replies, and shakes Jaehwan’s hand off his leg.


	2. II

Jaehwan told him he would like to go to Wonshik’s birthday party together because he didn’t know how Wonshik and he should behave around each other, and yet Hakyeon is the one sitting by the bar now with his whisky and Jaehwan is flirting with Wonshik a few feet away. Hakyeon knocks his whisky back and asks for another one, his head starting to feel funny.

There’s no one he knows among Wonshik’s friends, only Jaehwan, and he’s feeling bored and sleepy, but he promised Jaehwan he would stay until at least midnight, so he orders a third glass.

Someone nudges his right shoulder, and he looks up from the amber coloured liquid, promptly swaying in his seat, having to steady himself by the countertop.

"Hey,” the boy next to him grins, bright and bold and handsome. “Do you remember me?”

 _Remember_  is quite a strong expression, Hakyeon thinks, but he recognizes the almond-shaped eyes and the fleshy nose, even the kitten-like lips if he digs deep enough into his memory.

Sanghyuk lets out a soft laugh. “Guess not,” he says, and reaches out a hand. “Han Sanghyuk.”

“Cha Hakyeon,” Hakyeon mumbles, shaking Sanghyuk’s hand. He feels his cheeks heat up, the alcohol suddenly hitting him even harder. “You… Hongbin's—”

“Yeah, we met at Hongbin’s party.” Sanghyuk smirks. “What are you drinking?”

“Jim Beam,” Hakyeon replies.

Sanghyuk turns to the bartender, “Two Jim Beams, please.” He glances at Hakyeon. “Why are you sitting alone?”

“Well, Jaehwan,” Hakyeon looks over his shoulder, Sanghyuk following his gaze, the two of them staring at Jaehwan and Wonshik standing embracing each other for a few moments. “He’s busy.”

“Ah,” Sanghyuk says. “Well, I was supposed to be here with Hongbin, but I have no idea where he is, so I guess we can entertain each other if you want.”

Hakyeon chokes on a sip, coughing gracelessly as Sanghyuk pats his back, the hotness all over his body reaching an unbearable level.

“Do you need some water?” Sanghyuk asks, but Hakyeon only waves a ‘no’.

It’s a slow-burning conversation afterwards, one that Hakyeon feels to be slightly awkward as he keeps thinking about the pictures and the video; Sanghyuk’s fingers drawing patterns into the condensation on the wall of his glass reminding Hakyeon of the sight of Sanghyuk’s hands under his shirt in that one embarrassing photo. Sanghyuk doesn’t show any sign of uncomfortableness, probably tries to make Hakyeon feel relaxed with his questions about Hakyeon’s job and studies and his friendship with Jaehwan, and Hakyeon eases into the topics after a while, talking incessantly with his tongue feeling more and more numb inside his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Sanghyuk inquires with a smile after their third round of whisky, placing a hand on Hakyeon’s lower back.

“No, I—” Hakyeon sighs, trying to fight off the nausea, eyelids moving languidly as he blinks up at Sanghyuk. “I’m so sleepy.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yeah,” Hakyeon nods, bracing himself by the counter when he almost falls off the barstool. “But Jaehwan— I don’t… I don’t know how to get home, I— I came with Jaehwan.”

Sanghyuk spins around on his stool, looking for Jaehwan with his hand still on Hakyeon’s back, and a moment later, he leans close to Hakyeon’s ear.

“I think you should call him.”

Hakyeon takes out his phone and fumbles with the lock screen, finds Jaehwan’s number and calls it, but after two rings, the line dies.

“He declined the call,” Hakyeon mumbles.

“Okay, um,” Sanghyuk fishes his own phone out of his jeans’ pocket, tapping on it. “Can you type in your address?”

Hakyeon takes the phone and types in the street and number as best he can, handing the device back to its owner, his head lolling forward. He hears Sanghyuk snort as he gathers Hakyeon closer, lets him rest his head on Sanghyuk’s chest. The boy feels warm and smells of expensive perfume and cigarette smoke, all of those almost lulling Hakyeon to sleep.

“All right, I know how you can get home,” Sanghyuk says after a while, caressing Hakyeon’s back. “Let’s go, okay?”

Hakyeon gets lifted off the barstool, tumbling forward and chuckling, Sanghyuk steadying him. There’s an arm around his waist—an arm that guides him towards a door he sees two of, and after a few seconds, they step out into the cold October night.

“It’s a little far away from here,” he hears Sanghyuk explain, “but you can be at home in about thirty-five minutes.”

Hakyeon hums in response, leaning into Sanghyuk’s side, almost tripping over when Sanghyuk suddenly stops in the bus stop.

“You’re shaking,” Sanghyuk says. “Are you cold?”

“I’m freezing,” Hakyeon mutters, letting his teeth chatter for good measure.

The arm disappears from his waist and a jacket gets wrapped around his shoulders; he whimpers gratefully when Sanghyuk pulls him close, tucking Hakyeon’s head under his chin.

“Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t drink any more?” Sanghyuk asks, voice rumbling inside his chest under Hakyeon’s forehead.

“I would’ve told you if I’d known.”

Sanghyuk lets out a puff of air—a small laugh—, pressing a kiss to Hakyeon’s temple.

“I’m usually not a lightweight,” Hakyeon slurs, tipping his head up. His lips are touching the soft skin of Sanghyuk’s neck, he feels his fast pulse, and smiles against the goosebumps emerging there.

“You’ve contradicted that statement twice before you even uttered it,” Sanghyuk sasses, earning a weak punch in the side from Hakyeon, tightening his hold around him in turn.

They sit on the night bus huddled together, Hakyeon closing his eyes as he lays his head on Sanghyuk’s shoulder, enjoying the feeling of Sanghyuk’s fingers laced with his own.

He falls asleep two minutes into the bus ride and only wakes up when they change buses, his mind lingering between consciousness and sleep until they are finally walking towards the apartment building. He barely finds his keys once they’re standing on the porch, and when he enters, Sanghyuk lets go of him.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Hakyeon asks, holding onto the doorknob for dear life.

“I think I should go home, too,” Sanghyuk says, checking his phone. “It’s half past two.”

“You can… sleep here. If you want.” Hakyeon feels a blush creep onto his face from under the collar of his shirt. “I don’t like being alone at night.”

Sanghyuk laughs and steps in, closing the door after him.

“You’re not an average twenty-six-year-old, are you?”

“I’m not a baby,” Hakyeon replies, frowning. “I just have special needs.”

Another boisterous laughter bubbles from Sanghyuk’s throat, and in an instant, he closes the distance between them, kissing Hakyeon on the mouth.

Hakyeon doesn’t understand how he could have forgotten how it felt to have Sanghyuk’s lips on his own when it feels so  _right_ ; the tempo, the warmth, the rhythm—all of it just perfect. He finds his arms snaking around Sanghyuk’s waist when he feels fingers in his hair, hands cradling the back of his head and holding it gently. The jacket is being tugged off his shoulders and he’s thankful for it, because it’s getting hotter in the living room, or it’s just Sanghyuk’s body pressing into his that heats him up entirely, he’s not sure.

He feels his back hit the wall, Sanghyuk protecting his head with his palm, licking into his mouth and biting his lower lip as Hakyeon’s hands travel up on Sanghyuk’s torso, fingers creeping under his hoodie, and the jacket falls to the floor from Hakyeon’s shoulders. He pulls back, reaching up to his head to grab Sanghyuk’s hand.

“Come,” he says, dragging Sanghyuk towards his bedroom, ignoring the scattered books and empty tea cups all over the place.

He tries to help Sanghyuk take his hoodie and T-shirt off, probably only making the task more difficult because Sanghyuk laughs softly, previously prettily styled hair getting all messed up, fringe falling in front of his eyes from where it was pushed back. Sanghyuk’s fingers make quick work of the buttons on Hakyeon’s crisp white shirt afterwards, and they stumble back onto the bed when Hakyeon kisses Sanghyuk again.

Hakyeon takes guys up into their flat more often than it would be deemed appropriate—something Jaehwan teases him about regularly—, but it all excites him now more than it makes him nervous, which is something, if he wants to be completely honest. He’s not sure if it’s the alcohol inside him that makes him let his guard down so easily or perhaps the fact that Sanghyuk looks and feels so very perfect kissing Hakyeon’s throat with his hand splayed on Hakyeon’s stomach, but it doesn’t even matter much when he wraps his legs around Sanghyuk’s waist, bringing their bodies closer.

“Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk breathes next to his ear, and Hakyeon’s fingers tighten in his locks, coaxing a pretty moan out of the boy. “Hakyeon—”

“I’ve got everything in the drawer,” Hakyeon whispers, biting down on Sanghyuk’s naked shoulder.

“No,” Sanghyuk pulls back, cupping Hakyeon’s cheek into his hand. He looks gorgeous with those blown pupils and cherry lips, two pink patches colouring his cheeks. “Hakyeon, this is— you’re drunk and I’m not going to take advantage of it.”

“You’re not taking advantage of it,” Hakyeon says, kissing Sanghyuk’s collarbone. “I’d want it even if I were sober.”

There’s a sigh above him, and Sanghyuk rolls off his body, lying down next to Hakyeon. He stares up at the ceiling while Hakyeon stares at him, and he just doesn’t understand what he messed up when everything was going just fine.

“Is it me?” Hakyeon asks, drunk enough to ask questions he doesn’t want to hear the answer to.

“It’s— difficult. I’m not sure what’s going on,” Sanghyuk says, a weak chuckle leaving his throat as he turns towards Hakyeon, pecking his lips. Hakyeon looks at him, puzzled. “Can we just sleep? For now?”

“Sure,” Hakyeon mumbles, feeling hurt by being rejected so easily, without a proper reason.

Sanghyuk reaches over to the light switch to switch it off, and drapes an arm over Hakyeon’s waist, pressing up against him, his breathing becoming even faster than Hakyeon himself would fall asleep despite the alcohol working very diligently to knock him out.


	3. III

He wakes up with a headache again, the fingers carding through his hair being in perfect sync with the pounding inside his skull. He pulls back from the warm skin under his cheek, looking up at Sanghyuk with bleary eyes.

“You’re still here,” Hakyeon croaks.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Sanghyuk says, hand falling away from Hakyeon’s hair. “But I think I should go now.”

So, no morning sex, either, Hakyeon thinks.

He watches Sanghyuk stand up and put on his clothes, ruffling his hair as if that would do anything to make it look less like he just got out of a tornado. Hakyeon sits up, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, following Sanghyuk out of his bedroom and to the front door, waiting for him to put on his shoes.

“Um, thank you,” Sanghyuk says awkwardly, pocketing his hands. Hakyeon doesn’t know exactly what he’s thankful for, but he thinks it might be better not to dwell on it. Sanghyuk clears his throat. “Maybe we could, like, go out for a coffee next week, if you’d like.”

“Are you asking me out?” Hakyeon asks, feeling his facial muscles contort into a grimace. He quickly reorganizes his features to seem less rude. “On a date?”

Sanghyuk makes a noise, something between a laugh and a whine, and lowers his head. “It was just an idea.”

“I’m not sure if… we should do that,” Hakyeon says, feeling his face flush in embarrassment. “I mean, you’re really nice, and—”

“Oh, please, don’t,” Sanghyuk groans. He looks up, eyes reflecting hurt. “Let’s just stop it here, I’m sorry I asked. Bye.”

And closing the door, he disappears.

Hakyeon is only halfway through a sigh when Jaehwan’s bedroom door flings open, its owner darting out of it in only a pair of underwear and with his eyes practically shooting laser at Hakyeon.

“You absolute idiot!” Jaehwan shrieks, barrelling into Hakyeon, and they both fall to the floor, Hakyeon crying out despite the blanket dulling the pain of collapsing on the hardwood floorboards. Jaehwan straddles his hips, looking furious beyond words—something that’s quite rare. “He asked you out on a  _date_ and you said  _no_!”

“I’m aware, thank you,” Hakyeon grumbles. “Get off me.”

“Sanghyuk is a great guy,” Jaehwan goes on, hitting Hakyeon’s chest lightly. “He’s clever and nice and oh God, have you even seen him?! He looks out of this fucking world! What the hell is your problem?!”

“I don’t want to date, I’ve told you a million times!” Hakyeon retorts, pushing at Jaehwan’s arms, but he stays firmly seated on top of Hakyeon.

“Then why did you even take him home?!”

“Because I thought… shit, Jaehwan, you know why!”

“You’re a moron,” Jaehwan spits, climbing off Hakyeon and standing up. “You’re so stupid; can’t you just finally forget about Taekwoon and  _move on_? Your stupid little revenges have nothing on him, haven’t you noticed?”

“You know nothing about that!” Hakyeon yells, struggling to get up from the ground.

“I know enough to know you’re fucking up a completely perfect chance,” Jaehwan says. “Taekwoon was an asshole and it’s over, you should forget him and finally let someone treat you like an actual person instead of just a pile of shit.”

There’s the sound of naked feet against the floorboards, and Wonshik pokes his head out of Jaehwan’s bedroom, blinking sleepily. “Jaehwan?”

“Just think about what you’re missing out on while acting like it hurts Taekwoon that you sleep with others,” Jaehwan says, eyes roving over Hakyeon’s face. “Because it doesn’t—he doesn’t have a heart and you should know that better than anyone else.”

He turns around, mumbling something to Wonshik, and they both disappear in Jaehwan’s bedroom again, leaving Hakyeon there, wrapped up in his warm blanket and feeling colder than ever.


	4. IV

_‘I’m going to meet him.’_

_‘Sanghyuk??????????’_

_‘Taekwoon.’_

The three dots indicating that Jaehwan is currently typing appear again and again, but no actual message arrives, and Hakyeon gloats. It was his intention to shock Jaehwan with the news, to fight back after that quarrel on Sunday, after which Jaehwan only talked to him as much as necessary, and stared daggers at him whenever they ran into each other in the flat.

The three dots pop up again, and half a second later, they get replaced by the message,  _‘You’re an idiot.’_

That’s nothing new, Hakyeon thinks, but he’s not going to tell Jaehwan he shares his views.

He stands up from his bed and walks out into the hallway, puts on his shoes and coat, leaving the flat with his earphones in his ears.

It has been months since he last saw Taekwoon: six or seven months, he doesn’t remember well anymore. All he knows is the last time he saw his ex-boyfriend, it was through the veil of tears in front of his eyes, throat feeling raw from trying to suppress his crying in vain.

The café they agreed upon is one they used to frequent when they were still together, popping in for a coffee on their way to Hakyeon and Jaehwan’s place.

When Hakyeon enters the café, he gets hit in the face by a waft of warm, coffee-scented air, something—despite the fact that he goes to such places quite often—that always reminds him of the times he spent with Taekwoon: so many coffee dates and chit-chats over a cup of hot chocolate when it was cold outside, fights that sparked over a plate of muffins.

Taekwoon is sitting by one of the round tables with a glass full of his favourite latte in front of him, scrolling through his phone with his head lowered. He doesn’t look much different than he used to: his hair is still messy from his habit of running his fingers through it from time to time, broad shoulders hidden under a black knit sweater twice his size. Hakyeon’s knees suddenly feel like jelly.

He orders a cup of blackcurrant tea and makes his way towards Taekwoon, shedding his coat and hanging it on a hat stand before stopping by the table.

“Hey,” he says, voice unsteady, a watery, shy smile spreading on his lips.

Taekwoon glances up at him and puts his phone away, expression ever so unreadable. “Hey,” he greets back, watching Hakyeon take a seat across the table.

The waitress places Hakyeon’s tea in front of him and Hakyeon thanks her, taking his time pouring sugar and squeezing lemon into the drink afterwards.

“How have you been?” he asks, sipping at the hot beverage.

“I’ve been well,” Taekwoon says, waiting for Hakyeon to swallow, and then, “Hakyeon, why did you want to meet me?”

Hakyeon puts the cup back down on the saucer, staring at it as if that could answer the question without him having to speak.

“It’s been so long that we last met,” he shrugs.

“And there was a reason for that,” Taekwoon replies. There are no emotions in his voice, none on his face, and Hakyeon feels a pang in his chest.

“I know it wasn’t… pretty, how we separated,” Hakyeon says shakily, and Taekwoon’s eyebrows twitch. “But I just— I thought we could talk it over. If you want.”

“Talk it over?” Taekwoon echoes softly. “After half a year? After everything? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

It isn’t and Hakyeon knows that very well. They’re too different—they had this conversation numerous times when they were still dating; they both wanted something different from their relationship: Hakyeon, to be pampered and to pamper his boyfriend, and Taekwoon, to have a quiet haven where he could express his love without words and exaggerated actions, and have the same come back to him. Hakyeon is hot-headed and loudmouthed, and Taekwoon is slow-burning and secretive—the two of them could never complete each other. And when Taekwoon told him he would like to break up, it was both a tragedy and a relief for Hakyeon.

“Can you tell me how you’ve been feeling about the whole thing so far?” Hakyeon almost pleads, his tea slowly getting forgotten.

Taekwoon huffs, blinking down at his hands folding around his glass, the left corner of his mouth curling up in a sarcastic smile. His eyes are sad when he looks back up at Hakyeon.

“I’ve been feeling about it the same way I felt when I said we should end it,” he replies, gulping down the remnants of his latte and waving at the waitress. “We shouldn’t try to resurrect something that has been dead since the beginning. It’s going to be better for you, and for me, too. Believe me.”

“How do you know it’s going to be better for me?” Hakyeon quips, and Taekwoon’s eyes narrow in warning. Hakyeon continues a little quieter, “You said the same back then, but I’ve been feeling like shit; I don’t—I can’t even form a normal relationship with anyone because I keep—”

The waitress puts the bill on the table, and Hakyeon sinks back in his chair as Taekwoon hands her the price of his latte, Hakyeon’s tea, and some tip for which he earns a radiant smile.

“You keep what?” Taekwoon asks when the waitress leaves.

“Forget it,” Hakyeon murmurs, drinking up his tea.

“You keep comparing others to me?” Taekwoon asks, and Hakyeon looks at him flabbergasted. “I did that, too, for a long time and it never did me any good to try to find you in others. So please, let yourself close to others instead of trying to shape them into me—I’m not the one you should be with, Hakyeon.”

“Nice fucking way of telling me you don’t love me the way I love you,” Hakyeon snaps, and Taekwoon’s eyes harden. Hakyeon has always hated how Taekwoon could make him feel like a little kid throwing a tantrum, even if he knew he was behaving like that—it was one of the bases of their fights quite a few times.

“I don’t love you, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon says dispassionately, and Hakyeon may be imagining the way his face twitches when tears start collecting in Hakyeon’s eyes. “I told you back then and I didn’t want to say it out loud again, but if that’s the only way you understand me, there you go.”

Taekwoon stands up, taking his coat from the hat stand and putting it on, mumbling a ‘bye’, as he leaves the café and Hakyeon in it, sitting alone miserable and uncomfortable, wanting to vomit from the whole situation.

The plain ‘sorry’ he gets texted by Taekwoon afterwards is as empty as Taekwoon’s voice when he broke Hakyeon’s heart for the second time just a few minutes before.


	5. V

The warmth of the duvet he’s cocooned himself into is comforting in a way, if not the most effective thing to keep the bad thoughts away.

Hakyeon is scrolling through uninteresting articles and posts he sees on Facebook, not even concentrating on what he can see on his phone when the door opens, and a moment later, there’s a heap pressing against his back.

“Hakyeon,” Jaehwan moans behind him, voice muffled by the duvet. He drapes his arm and leg over Hakyeon’s body, scooting as close as he can. “Are you okay?”

“Are you wearing clothes?”

“I am,” Jaehwan replies.

“Then I’m okay.”

“You’ve been in here all day,” Jaehwan says, the pout audible in his voice. “You didn’t even reply to my texts.”

“I didn’t feel like replying,” Hakyeon says, opening a link to a chocolate fudge cake recipe. He might make it later and shove all of it into his mouth. “And I didn’t feel like going out of the room.”

“Will you tell me what happened yesterday?” Jaehwan asks, limbs tightening around Hakyeon’s body like grape vines. “With Taekwoon?”

“Nothing we haven’t been through before,” Hakyeon mumbles, trying to sound as unaffected as possible. “He doesn’t love me. Period.”

“His loss,” Jaehwan replies, and fumbles with the duvet, rolling Hakyeon on his back and lying on top of him, supporting himself on his arms by Hakyeon’s head to look down at him. His sympathetic expression looks sincere, which is not something Hakyeon witnesses very often, but he appreciates it all the more, even if it feels a little embarrassing to be looked at that way. “You can still meet Sanghyuk, you know.“

"Cannot,” Hakyeon says. “I literally told him I just wanted to sleep with him and nothing else.”

“Not literally,” Jaehwan answers. “You told him you didn’t want to go on a date.”

“Yeah, after he slept in my bed,” Hakyeon rolls his eyes. “Anyway, could you please get off me? This is getting awkward, I feel like you want to kiss me.”

Jaehwan scrunches up his nose, probably involuntarily, but then gets off Hakyeon and the bed entirely.

“I like you, but not that much,” he says, standing beside the bed with his hands on his hips. “But please, think about meeting Sanghyuk. He’s really a good guy; I’ve talked to him a lot lately, and he’s the perfect candidate for the role of being your new sweetheart.”

“Don’t be so poetic, oh my God,” Hakyeon brushes a hand over his face. “If I say I’ll think about it, will you leave me alone?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

Jaehwan gives him a thumbs up and leaves the bedroom, and in it, a miserable Hakyeon.


	6. VI

How Jaehwan has managed to convince him to go to the cinema with him and Wonshik is still beyond Hakyeon when he stops next to one of the huge posters just by the entrance of the buffet. He takes out his phone nevertheless, texting Jaehwan to hurry up, and looks up at the menu to see how much Jaehwan is going to pay for his popcorn.

There’s someone stopping next to him, and when Hakyeon looks up, he sees Sanghyuk with his head lowered, fingers working on the screen of his phone as he wiggles his chin lower into his coat, the red tips of his ears making a stark contrast with his navy blue scarf. He blinks at his phone and then up, shock visible on his face for only a few moments before it gives room to an uncomfortable smile.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Hakyeon blurts out, blushing like he has a reason to.

“Watching something?” Sanghyuk asks, nodding towards the programme above their heads.

Hakyeon knits his brows, a small laugh escaping him. Sanghyuk looks distantly surprised, and a moment later, his eyes turn round as he starts chuckling, cheeks turning pink.

“What else would I do at the cinema?” Hakyeon asks.

“Okay, I know that was stupid, I was trying to maintain small talk,” Sanghyuk laughs, nudging Hakyeon’s shoulder with his own. “Stop laughing.”

Hakyeon giggles some more, and when the urge dies down, he asks, "Are you waiting for someone?”

“Yeah, I actually am,” Sanghyuk replies, elbow brushing with Hakyeon’s arm as he pockets his hands. “Jaehwan invited me to come and–”

“Wait, Jaehwan?” Hakyeon frowns. “He invited me too; he and Wonshik, actually. But they never said you’d be here, too, I mean, it’s not a problem, but–”

“Smells like a trick,” Sanghyuk mutters, taking out his phone once again. “I’m going to call Wonshik.”

Hakyeon quickly types in Jaehwan’s number, only to pull the phone away from his ear after two seconds when the call gets declined.

“He didn’t pick it up,” Sanghyuk says, turning to Hakyeon.

“Jaehwan declined it,” he grumbles. “Nine out of ten times he declines my call and it’s–”

Hakyeon’s phone pings in his hand, a message from Jaehwan lighting up the screen.

 _‘have fun~_ _❤_ ,’ the message reads, and Hakyeon lets out a hissing noise much like the one Taekwoon’s cat used to make whenever Hakyeon tried to pet it.

“This is definitely a trick,” he says ominously, staring daggers at his phone as if that could hurt Jaehwan.

“So,” Sanghyuk says, clearing his throat, “I guess we can get going then. You don’t want to go along with this whole thing, I assume.”

Hakyeon glances up at him, at the fake happy curl of his mouth, his cupid’s bow flattening out as he presses his lips together and Hakyeon’s heart picks up inside his chest, memories of Sanghyuk kissing and holding him in the cold flooding his mind and practically making him hyperventilate.

“I didn’t come here for nothing,” he says in the end, smiling reassuringly at Sanghyuk and earning a happy grin for it.

They decide on the least mediocre-looking action film, buying a ticket each, and when Hakyeon queues up at the buffet, saying he’d like a medium popcorn menu and trying to pay for it, Sanghyuk places two hands on his shoulder and gently directs Hakyeon to the side so he can ask for the same for himself and pay for both.

“I didn’t want you to pay for it,” Hakyeon mumbles once they’re walking towards the auditorium, popping a popcorn into his mouth.

“It’s okay,” Sanghyuk grins, placing a hand on Hakyeon’s back to shepherd him inside. “I just wanted to thank you for not leaving me alone here.”

Hakyeon climbs the stairs, aiming for the topmost row and in it, the seats in the middle. Five minutes before show time the room is empty save for the two of them and five other people which should be an indicator that the film is going to be awful, but Hakyeon tries to exclude those negative thoughts.

“Well,” Hakyeon says awkwardly, “thank you.”

Sanghyuk smiles, taking off his coat and sitting down next to Hakyeon, eating his popcorn by the handful and drinking huge gulps of his cola, finishing half of both by the time the commercials start. He parodies one of them, distorting his voice and mimicking the actor in it, and Hakyeon snorts as he laughs, half choking on his drink.

The film is loud enough to have Hakyeon’s attention even though it’s more boring than those home shopping channels he sometimes find himself watching for hours on end. Sanghyuk’s comments on the wrong logic of certain things, and the bloopers he notices in it make the film a little more interesting, and definitely a lot funnier, turning Hakyeon into public enemy number one more than once when he laughs out loud.

“Shh,” Sanghyuk says when someone two rows under them turns back and sends Hakyeon a murderous look, possibly saying 'shut the fuck up’, but Hakyeon might just be imagining it. Soon there’s a warm hand on his own, his fingers wrapping around Sanghyuk’s palm on instinct when Sanghyuk leans in close to whisper into his ear, “These people are psychos if they like this shit, don’t make them mad.” He looks back up at the screen, and then, “Jesus Christ, this is a movie about the Second World War; why is he talking on an iPhone 7?!”

Hakyeon snorts, burying his face into Sanghyuk’s shoulder to muffle his laughter and resting his head there afterwards, beaming at the screen as if they’re watching a fairy tale.

“Did you see the Colonel’s RayBan glasses?” Hakyeon breathes, and Sanghyuk jostles his head as he starts sniggering, reaching for Hakyeon’s neck to place a hand on it in apology. He brushes his thumb over Hakyeon’s jawline and leans in to kiss him shortly on the mouth like it’s the most natural thing on Earth, smiling against Hakyeon’s mouth when Hakyeon pecks his lips again.

They end up kissing for the rest of the film like a couple of teenagers, the intermittent giggles that bubble from their throat making the other members of the audience glance back at them, thus prompting them to act like they’re not doing anything suspicious.

“Please, exit the auditorium.”

Hakyeon pulls back from Sanghyuk like he got electrified, looking up at the cinema employee, a strict looking lady, and flushing to the roots of his hair.

“Sorry,” Sanghyuk splutters and gathers their popcorn boxes and paper cups, bowing in apology to the employee and all but running out of the room with Hakyeon following close on his heels with their coats in his arms.

Sanghyuk dumps the trash into the nearest bin, laughing boisterously afterwards as he puts on his coat, and grabbing Hakyeon’s hand to hide both of them in a nook by the door to a private area, panting as he leans against the wall. He looks down at Hakyeon with his eyes creasing into happy crescent moons, round teeth blinding as he beams, and Hakyeon’s heart feels like it wants to jump out of his chest from a feeling he has never felt before, not even with Taekwoon. And, he thinks, this is probably a sign that he should finally stop thinking of Taekwoon altogether.

“Do you want to grab something to eat?” Sanghyuk asks, gently rubbing Hakyeon’s arm.

“Sure,” Hakyeon says.

Sanghyuk laces their fingers together and steps out of the nook, but before he could start walking towards the door to the entrance hall, Hakyeon yanks him bank, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and kissing him again, deeper and slower than back in the auditorium, smiling at the way Sanghyuk melts against him, holding him close by the waist. Hakyeon pulls back first, swallowing hard at the sight of Sanghyuk blinking up from his lips to his eyes, looking like he might just stay on the corridor forever if he can stay there with Hakyeon. And Hakyeon feels the same way.

“Take me on another date,” he says, grinning.

Sanghyuk laughs and pulls Hakyeon towards the exit, towards what is going to be their first real date of many more to come.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to talk to me about any of my stories or just vixx in general on [tumblr](http://hongbab.tumblr.com/), [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hongbab) or [aff](http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1061753) ♡ please support me on [ko-fi.com](https://ko-fi.com/hongbab) if you can ♡


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